Events

Dr. Johannes Loschnigg

Climate Change and Washington DC:

‘Debates’ about the science, confusion about the impacts, and other headaches.

As a staff member in both the U.S. Congress and the White House during the last decade, Dr. Loschnigg has been closely involved in the debates about the science of climate change, as well as the need to reduce carbon emissions and shift to cleaner sources of energy. But Congressional action has been slower than many would prefer, often because of misinformation regarding the science of climate change and confusion about the projected impacts. Dr. Loschnigg will provide of overview of this debate as well as highlight some of the recent activity on this front.

When: Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Bring your lunch. This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Johannes Loschnigg was a Senior Policy Analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in Washington DC from 2009 to 2013. As a part of OSTP's Environment and Energy Division, Dr. Loschnigg was responsible for the development of federal policy for renewable energy, climate change, aerospace and earth satellite observations. Prior to that, Dr. Loschnigg was the Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics of the Committee on Science in the U.S. House of Representatives, overseeing NASA and U.S. civil space programs. Dr. Loschnigg first came to the U.S. Congress in 2002 as a congressional science and technology policy fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), working for U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. While in the Senate he directed the development of legislation relating to innovation, broadband wireless communication, nanotechnology, defense research and climate change policy. Between 1998 and 2002, Dr. Loschnigg was affiliated with the University of Hawaii, initially as post-doctoral fellow and later as a faculty research scientist in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. While in Hawaii he concentrated on coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling of the Indian and Pacific oceans as well as the impacts of climate variability on disease and human health. Dr. Loschnigg has been a Senior Advisor for the Administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC, and has also consulted for the National Academy of Sciences. He has previously been a scientific assistant at the the NASA Ames Research Center in California, at the Department of Physics at the University of Freiburg in Germany, and at the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Loschnigg holds BA degrees in both physics and international relations from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and MS and PhD degrees in astrophysical, planetary and atmospheric sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He currently is a consultant providing strategic advice for organizations and companies in areas such as energy, climate change and aerospace. He resides near Portland Oregon.